Police rope off the scene of a shooting and multi-car accident on the Las Vegas strip Thursday. / Steve Marcus, AP

by Gary Strauss and Laura Bly, USA TODAY

by Gary Strauss and Laura Bly, USA TODAY

Las Vegas Police are looking for a Black Range Rover that's key to an early Thursday morning fiery car crash that caused the deaths of three people on the Las Vegas strip, one of them a local rapper.

Las Vegas rapper Kenneth Cherry, known as Kenny Clutch, was identified as one of the victims, police told the Las Vegas Review Journal.

A Maserati driven by the rapper was the target of the drive-by shooting on the Strip early Thursday that left Cherry and two innocent bystanders dead. Las Vegas police said several occupants of a black Range Rover fired into the Maserati at about 4:30 a.m. at Las Vegas Boulevard South and Flamingo Road following a dispute in the valet parking area of the Aria hotel.

Sgt. John Sheahan said the driver of the Maserati was fatally shot and a passenger in Clutch's car suffered an arm injury and was taken to University Medical Center, where he was cooperating with investigators.

The busy intersection, near some of the most famous casinos on the Strip, will be closed off the remainder of the day and "possibly into the late evening," and northbound traffic along Las Vegas Boulevard is being rerouted, said Metro Police officer Jose Hernandez. All casinos and businesses in the area remain open, he said.

Thursday morning's shooting is the third violent crime to hit the popular casino resort this month. Two tourists were attacked in an elevator at the hotel at Mandalay Bay on Feb. 16, and two people were critically wounded in a shooting at a Las Vegas Boulevard parking garage Feb. 6.

Police initially said occupants of the Maserati exchanged gunfire with the Range Rover, but Sheahan later said no shots were fired from the Maserati.

The Review-Journal said the incident may have begun in a nightclub dispute.

The Range Rover has paper dealer plates, although it's not clear what state they're from, police said. Authorities are checking with law enforcement agencies in California, Arizona and Utah.